Life is Good
by thebestIcan
Summary: Sano reflects on life with Kenshin since he stopped running from the law. Sequal to "I Must Not Fall in Love." Birthday present for Kenshin's Soul!


Here's a little birthday present for my dear Kenshin's Soul! Happy birthday, Donna! I couldn't figure out what to write, so I just did a sequal of sorts to the last fiction I did for you, _I Must Not Fall In Love_. I hope you like it!

* * *

Life is Good

I'm awake before sun-up and I sigh as I look over at the slightly open window, the blue light telling me that is was probably not even five yet. I scowl and shift so that I am flat on my back, staring at the ceiling. It's too early to get up, make some tea and start the day, but it's too late to go back to sleep for several hours. Besides, I am wide awake and energized. Perhaps I'd spent too much time on a boat, up before dawn to help on deck. I wonder how you can sleep so peacefully beside me, remembering how you'd told me you'd be up before dawn to sneak out of old barns and sheds you'd spent the night in.

I look over at you, your red hair dulled significantly in the low light but still shocking in color. You're on your stomach, your face turned towards me and relaxed with sleep. Your scar is ghostly dark against your cheek and I reach out to press my fingers to the crossing lines. Your skin is cold and I tsk as I pull the blankets up along your naked form, tucking them around your shoulders.

I turn onto my side to face you, leaning my head on my hand as I watch you sleep. A lock of your hair covers your nose and flutters with each breath you take, making you frown in your sleep. I bite the side of my cheek to keep from laughing and pull the strands back, your face relaxing again. Your lips part slightly and I fight the urge to press my own against them. You draw your deceptively lean arms towards yourself, pulling your pillow with it, turning your face slightly and I smile as you catch more of the light. You really are a beautiful creature, though the thought of the beating you'd give me if I said that makes me shudder. You are beautiful. Anyone who's seen you, friend, enemy and stranger alike would agree.

_I tightened the knots of the rope in my hands, securing one of the many crates of cargo down for the impending storm that we would be sailing into. The other crew were laughing and joking as we went about lashing rope and balancing the load to the walls of the ship. The conversation had moved from work to the money lost in cards the night before to the girls that the men would find when we reached port. _

"_I wouldn't mind that little minx from Osaka, Yuuki. The one with the birthmark on her neck?"_

_A few of the other men made cat calls at the memory of her and I smirked, shaking my head. Soshi liked to brag about the women he had 'courted' with during his many years at sea. He had spent more time on the water than many of us had on land. Soshi had been my best companion since I'd first left… Tokyo. Swallowing hard at my narrow evasion of your name, I move on to another crate. Tatsu, another one of the crewmen, picked up the conversation._

"_I'd like a girl with a bit of curve to her, something to hold on to, if you know what I mean."_

_Tatsu made an hourglass motion with his hands, earning another round of cat calls. I wished I could hold on to someone too. Someone with violet eyes and a kind smile. I swallow curtly and pull the rope more roughly than I need to. One of the newer men, whose name I didn't know yet, nodded in agreement with Tatsu._

"_Yeah, with long black hair, good for running your fingers through."_

_Another round of cat calls and cheers. Tatsu turns to me and nods, grinning as he tosses me another rope and hook._

"_Come on, Sagara, doesn't that sound nice?"_

_I feel my mouth go dry at the question, chest tightening at the looks of the other men around me. I gulp down the lump in my throat, a flash of crimson and violet in my mind's eye before I open my mouth to speak. Soshi beats me to it._

"_Nah, Sagara likes redheads."_

_I feel the blood in my face drain, staring at Soshi with wide eyes as he grins at me. A 'homo' in a crowd of sailors will not be welcomed. The other men mumble, looking between the two of us and for a moment I wonder how he would know. Then I realize he had been up top on deck when I'd left Tokyo, after kissing you goodbye, and that he must have seen. I shift nervously under the eyes of the others as Soshi speaks again._

"_He's got a pretty little thing waiting for him back in Tokyo, right Sagara? What a beauty!"_

_I smirk to myself as I finish bolting a safe to the wooden panels of the deck. I stand straight, nodding as the swell of fear vanishes. I see crimson and violet again and sigh._

"_Yeah, what a beauty."_

The birds are beginning to chirp outside and I curse them, watching as you shift in your sleep as you, on some unconscious level, take in the sound. Your hand twitches and moves closer to me, almost as if you are reaching for me. I gently pick it up, rubbing my thumb along the back of it, frowning slightly at the calluses on your fingers. For one so small, you're so strong, yet you keep reaching for me.

I think back on all the times you've done this. The night I'd tried to bomb the International Affairs office with Katsu, you'd struck me down, then reached for me as if to reassure me. When you needed my help just staying upright in the battle against Shishio, I had let you lean on me. When you'd first learned of Kaoru's 'death,' you'd buried your face in my shoulder and sobbed before exiling yourself. The day I left you standing on the dock as I sailed away, arms reaching to me until I was forced up the plank and onto the ship.

I swallow tightly at the thought, sighing as one particular instance pushes the prior out of thought, on a chilly spring day.

_There is a child now. _

_It is unmistakable that it is yours, with red in his hair like that! His eyes are almost the same shade of yours, only with a little more blue, and I feel my chest tighten as I realize who the mother is. I wonder if Kaoru knows about us. The little boy stares up at me and I push away the dark thoughts to smile at him. He doesn't smile back, but rather scans me up and down in a way that I know he takes after you. I clear my throat._

"_What's your name?"_

_The boy meets my eyes again and I can tell that he is trying to decide whether to tell me or not. His parents probably taught him to never talk to strangers. The boy finally puffs out his chest and replies._

"_Kenji."_

_I nod, finding that the name doesn't surprise me at all. The boy is kicking at the dirt of the ground, every now and again looking back up at me. I glance up at the dojo's back gate, shifting the rucksack on my back. After a moment I look back at Kenji._

"_Is your mother or father in?"_

_The boy again decides whether or not to answer this, but eventually nods his head, looking down at the ground. His hair even falls in his eyes the way yours does! _

"_Mama's in the drill hall practicing, Daddy's in the garden planting radishes. He's sad today, though."_

_The thought of you in any type of pain makes my heart clench and Kenji sees the look of disappointment on my face. I quickly clear my throat and look back at the gates. I am about to ask when Kenji continues for me._

"_They had a fight. Mama loves Daddy… Daddy loves someone else."_

_The words make my eyes widen and I stare back at the child in front of me, amazed at how much he knows. His blatant honesty shocks me and I know that this must be a mash up of his parents odd takes on truth telling. What has life for you been like in these past years that your son can see so much pain? I know how you hide your suffering, with careful precision and masks. _

_Then the question of faithfulness worms its way into my mind. What if you moved on from me, found someone else to love? What if you hadn't wanted Kaoru but couldn't stand to wait for me either? I swallow again and look into Kenji's eyes._

_He is not upset about the situation. He knows of the pain his parents are in. I instantly know of how brave and strong the boy in front of me is and I smile as I watch him. He smiles back up at me and I feel slightly awkward at the situation as we stand smiling at each other._

"_Sanosuke…"_

_The whisper of my name makes me turn and I see you there, eyes wide as you stare at me. My heart nearly bursts at just the sight of you, hair messed from working, dirt covering you to your elbows and smudged across your chin. You look amazing and I grin as you smile, tears streaking down your cheeks while you reach for me. I catch you around the middle, lifting you up and holding you as close as possible to me. For a moment it is like I never left, like we never spent years apart and you wrap your arms tight around my shoulders, sobbing into my neck._

_I pull your lips to mine, ignoring Kenji's giggle as I kiss you for the first time in four years and I revel in the feeling of you against me. We kiss like we'd longed to do since I'd stepped onto that ship. And I instantly know who that someone else you love is._

I shift closer to you at the thought of kissing you, sighing as you turn onto your side. As gently as I can, I lift you, tucking my arms around and underneath you, pulling you to me. You stir slightly, then nudge my chest with your nose, settling in and taking a deep breath. I always enjoy these moments together, where we are alone and I can hold you this way. Whether chatting idly over a cup of cha or making love, we always seem to find ourselves in each other's arms. I love the feel of you. You are warm and soft, and I run my hands along your back, fingers working the scars there. You relax further as I rub the stress of daily life away, sighing in your sleep.

The divorce has been hard on you. Only the other day you signed the papers to release all rights to the dojo back to Kaoru, and she's already changed your room back to the typical guest's quarters. I know Kaoru hates you for not being the husband that she'd dreamed you would be, but she didn't stop you from seeking me out. She didn't keep you from Kenji, and only fussed a little at the idea of me being a part of his life as well. She thinks that I have stolen her husband, I will steal her child as well. I'm content with being 'Uncle Sano.' I think that maybe that fine young officer under Saitoh's command has finally caught her attention: He's only been seeking her for months now.

I'm surprised she didn't kick you out the moment she saw you with me. I kept telling you that I had more than enough room, to just say the word and you could stay with me. You spent enough time at my place anyway. I thought you would never break down and say yes.

_One tiny, half-full rucksack. When I had arrived at the dojo to help you pack your belongings and move them across town, I had expected to move some furniture, a futon and a few sword maintenance kits. Instead, I watched as you threw your extra changes of clothes, a book, and tin types of Kenji into the sack and closed your bedroom shoji behind you. _

"_I can't believe all thirty-four years of your life fits into a single rucksack."_

_You simply shrugged, took my hand and let me lead you back to the apartment. My stuff had been moved out of the old shack at Ruffian's Row a few days ago, and now all you had to do was put your things away. I watched as you folded your gi's and put them in the drawer next to my clothes. You kept the tattered old copy of 'Tales of Genji' on top, and you lined up the tin types on your side of the dresser. Unpacking had taken a total of ten minutes and as I brought you over a cup of cha, you stood, dusting off your hakama. I smiled as you took a sip, looking around curiously._

"_It's big enough for us, good spot too. Not the one we looked at, but I think it's an improvement."_

_I watched as you explored the rest of the apartment for the first time, smiling over the rim of my cup as you find the small door tucked away at the back. You pull the shoji open and peek inside a moment before looking over your shoulder at me._

"_Sano, there's another room here!"_

_I nod, putting my own cup down and walking over. I lean against the edge of the shoji, looking inside. It is small, though large enough for its purpose, and the extra space really wasn't that much more than the original price. Glancing down I see you are stuck somewhere between confusion and shock, and I rub my forehead as I look back at the room._

"_There's a futon in the closet and Kaoru brought over some of Kenji's things, they're in the closet too. I figure we can get him a toy box or something to put them in so he doesn't have to go into the closet every time he needs something. And the school already knows the custody schedule and that this is the second address-"_

_I am cut off as you press your lips to mine, arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders and I am nearly doubled over from the force and our height difference. Snaking my arms around your waist, I turn so that you are pinned between me and the shoji. After a few moments of kissing and caressing, we pull apart. Your eyes are shining with joy and you grin from ear to ear._

"_Thank you."_

The sun has finally crept over the horizon and your hair is like fire. I run my fingers through it, watching it shimmer in the light. I feel you start to move and I stay still cursing under my breath as you yawn, stretching in my arms. For a moment I am distracted by your lean, naked body arched innocently against mine before I realize you're speaking.

"What time is it?"

Your eyes squint against the light and wakefulness, dancing violet. Your face is etched with lines from sleep and your hair is sticking to your scar from leaning your cheek on my chest. I brush it back.

"Just a little after dawn."

Nodding, you roll onto your back, stretching again. Your back arches and you reach your arms above your head, craning your neck. My eyes catch the smooth skin there and I pounce at the opportunity, pinning your hands in place and latching my lips to your pulse. You moan in surprise and I smirk, kissing up your neck. Your chuckle only encourages me and I lick lightly along the curve of your jaw.

"Sano... We have to pick up Kenji today."

I pull back slightly, frowning at you.

"Not for another few hours."

You quirk an eyebrow at me and it's so adorable that I reach forward to nibble your ear. Another chuckle and moan before you continue.

"But I know you; you'll keep me here until then!"

You know me too well. I laugh at how true it is, collecting your wrists into one of my hands, the other running along your side. You shiver and arch into the touch. Honestly, if it was such an inconvenience, why were you pushing into my hand instead of pulling away? My thumb finds a scar on your stomach that always does the trick.

"Is there any problem with that?"

You seem to contemplate saying 'yes,' but after a moment more of caressing the scar tissue, your eyes start to go glassy. You reach up as best you can and nudge my nose with yours. Our lips mesh together and I feel your answer in the way we kiss, long and loving. The same way we always kiss, but it never gets boring.

Life is good.

* * *

"This is the birthday song, this is the birthday song! It's not very long but happy birthday!"

Okay, as for divorce in Meiji era Japan, I actually don't really know much. I know that even though Kaoru was the initial owner of the dojo, in the divorce Kenshin would have been awarded it because he is, well, male. He also would have been awarded Kenji. But I can't see him being the type to keep both all for himself, so I imagine he'd just give the dojo back to Kaoru and they'd split custody. Other than that, I know nothing.


End file.
